With every family of drugs tried for lowering high blood pressure (ie calcium channel blockers, alpha/beta blockers, diuretics, ace inhibitors etc) I suffer from muscle pains in my limbs on moving. The pain gets worse the more I move. Eg if I go for a walk, my thighs will ache and then 5mins later my calves start to hurt. The pain increases with each step. The pain is like a cramp. The worst is going up the stairs. At the top, after I have stopped, the backs of my legs feel as though they have been severely slapped. A bad stinging pain. My arms also hurt if for example Im hanging out washing or painting etc. I am unable to hold them up for long, becauseof the pain. The doctors do not think I am suffering from claudication. I did not have any pain in my limbs before taking the drugs. I cannot tolerate these drugs at the levels I need them to lower my blood pressure. Can someone help me?

Those same pains also affected me when i first started taking bp meds. With time the pain lessened. There are some that i still can't take, such as norvasc. I can tolerate pain in most parts of my body, except, lower back, legs, heart or any internal organ. Headaches are a bother, but i can tolerate them.

Because i really need lower bp, i just learn to mildly tolerate some drugs, the other option for me would be to have a heart attack. I 've had two heart attacks and im diabetic. I've had to try so many bp meds(every class) and lifestyle changes in the last yr or two. My worst bp med was toprol xl.

I hope you feel better and find a bp med that works for you. Im still in the process myself. Right now i am trying clonidine, verapamil, & torsemide. Just started clonidine don't know how the side effects are yet. Usually i can last 3 wks to month b4 side effects hit me.

It is the walk that aggravates the pain. I dont get any pain when immobile. I have tried painkillers anti inflammatories. Nothing seems to touch/shift the pain. Further suggestions are always welcome. Thanks for taking an interest, senior veteran. Hope your back pain lessens.

Hi anna, i am now off the norvasc, it was too much for me to bear. I went to see my gp and he took me off norvasc. It did help my bp but back pain is the worst. I was walking 3 miles daily(incl. winter) but i was to the point i couldn't walk 100 ft. Maybe you should call your dr and see if he/she can prescribe something else. I once read an article that said certain pains (thigh, chest, lower back etc.) sometimes indicate that the drug is causing the heart to stress.

My gp did tell me that some pains can indicate a serious problem. Its better to be safe than sorry. Good luck and keep us posted.

I was on Diovan for many moons and I was lethargic and had horrible muscle pain and cramps. I bowed up and decided that I was going to the gym and would exercise through the pain. I did for about 6 months and it never got better.

I switched almost a month ago to 20 mg of Benicar with 12.5 of HCTZ and I feel great. My blood pressures have plummeted from 140/90 on Diovan to 115/68 (the lowest reading) on Benicar. Better 24 hour protection I am told and no muscle pain.....I now do 50-55 minutes of Elliptical on the gut wrencher program and have only specific pain (which is normal) to the set of muscles I was intentionally working out.

Thank you jtu, mrmojo and oncloud9 for your comments. Please could you tell me what Benicar is, (Which family/class of drugs it belongs to) as I am English and it's probably known as something else here. And what is HCTZ? Thank you. (I have a list of American named medicines, but Benicar doesnt appear on it.

Sorry, forgot to say that I'm currently on a low dose of a potassium sparing diuretic and a low dose of an alpha blocker but neither have made any impact on my bp which is jolly high. The muscle pain was slightly starting to ease off until I was told to increase the dose......will keep you posted.

Thank you jtu, mrmojo and oncloud9 for your comments. Please could you tell me what Benicar is, (Which family/class of drugs it belongs to) as I am English and it's probably known as something else here. And what is HCTZ? Thank you. (I have a list of American named medicines, but Benicar doesnt appear on it.

Benicar is an Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARB) one of the newer classes of BP meds. I have been on it since last summer. And I think it is made in Germany. Some of the ones that you may have on your list of American meds are Diovan, Cozzar, Avapro, Atacand, and Micardis. Benicar is (I believe) the newest in this class.
HCT is Hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic
Cass

Thank you very much Cassiebel. I will mention benicar to my consultant when I next see him, but I have this family of drugs before, albeit only one type....Currently, my bp is fantastic inthe mornings rising to very high by evening....limb pain quite bad since having increased dose.

Thank you very much Cassiebel. I will mention benicar to my consultant when I next see him, but I have this family of drugs before, albeit only one type....Currently, my bp is fantastic inthe mornings rising to very high by evening....limb pain quite bad since having increased dose.

I would be very interested in what you find out from your consulant ( is this a doctor or nurse ) the reason I am so interested is because my BP is like yours. It's just great in the mornings (120/60) and very high in the evenings (170-190 / 80-90). I have tried taking my medication at different times of the day but it still follows this pattern.
I too have leg pain but I am sure it's arthritis.
Cass

Hi Cass . Your bp is better than mine!!!! I had to change consultants as I felt he was totally unsympathetic to the side effects I've been having and was threatened me with all the horrors that could happen if I didnt take the pills. As soon as I ve met the new one I will let you know. I too am taking my meds throughout the day, but its making little difference. My homeopathic doctor has just issued me with doxazosin (this is an alpha blocker) in homoepathic form. She hopes this will help both with the muscle pain and the bp. Will keep you posted.

Benicar is an angiotensin receptor blocker (an ARB in board parlance) and HCTZ is hydrochlorothiazide, the earliest of the antihypertensive classes- around for 1/2 century, a water-pill in common parlance.

Well, actually, in the 30's and 40's phenobarbitol was the usual treatment...IMAGINE!